Italian general election, 1959

The Italian general election, 1959 was held from 1 January to 1 July 1959, when the people of Italy voted to elect a new Prime Minister. The election saw widespread participation among the Italian people, and the incumbent socialist government was re-elected to power with 43.8% of the vote.

History
The Italian Socialist Party's 1955-1959 government had many achievements to be proud of, the most important of them being the elimination of the national debt by paying off all loans from France and the Italian banks. The Socialist Party also prided itself on bypassing austerity measures by raising government spending to the maximum while also cutting taxes for the lower and middle classes; Italy's booming economy could afford to have less tax income. The Socialists turned a destitute Italy into a prosperous one, a feat that Christian Democracy had failed to achieve.

Christian Democracy once more had the support of capitalist associations in the country, as it promoted free trade. On 11 April 1959, an association of capitalists began a public relations campaign to educate their workers on the values of free trade, persuading the clerks and workers. The government responded by launching a counter-campaign in favor of protectionism, reversing the capitalists' gains. The government also reassured its opponents that it was not a proponent of creeping statism, and many in Italy came to support a planned economy. The government then gave support to entrepreneurs who raised fears that foreign goods were taking over the Italian market, gaining the support of the business class. Ultimately, the Socialists won in their traditional strongholds of northern Italy and Lazio, while Christian Democrats won large majorities in South Tyrol and Sardinia and slim majorities in the rest of the country. Due to the proportional representation system of Italian politics, the Socialists won the election, as they won 40.75% of the vote; the Italian Liberal Party and Italian Democratic Socialist Party were in no mood to side with the right bloc in a coalition government, handing the election to the Socialists.

Results

 * Christian Democracy of Italy.png Christian Democracy - 25.67%
 * PLI.png Italian Liberal Party - 7.48%
 * PSI.png Italian Socialist Party - 40.75%
 * PSDI.png Italian Democratic Socialist Party - 5.57%
 * Italian Social Movement.png Italian Social Movement - 9.45%
 * Monarchist National Party.png Monarchist National Party - 8.02%
 * PCI.png Italian Communist Party - 3.05%